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[No. L-7708. 30 May 1955]

JOSE MONDANO, petitioner, vs. FERNANDO SILVOSA,

Provincial Governor of Surigao, JOSE ARREZA and
OLIMPIO EPIS, Members of the Provincial Board,
respondents.

1. ADMINISTRATIVE LAW; DEPARTMENT HEAD AS

AGENT OF THE PRESIDENT HAS DlRECT CONTROL
ONLY OVER BUREAUS AND OFFICES UNDER His
JURISDICTION BUT NOT OVER LOCAL
GOVERNMENTS.—The department head as agent of the
President has direct control and supervision over all
bureaus and offices under his jurisdiction as provided for
in section 79 (c) of the Revised Administrative Code, but
he does not have the same control of local governments as
that exercised by him over bureaus and offices under his
jurisdiction. Likewise, his authority to order the
investigation of any act or conduct of any person in the
service of any bureau or office under his department is
confined to bureaus or offices under his jurisdiction and
does not extend to local governments over which the
President exercises only general supervision as may be
provided by law (section 10, paragraph 1, Article VII of
the Constitution). If the provisions of section 79 (c) of the
Revised Administrative Code are to be construed as
conferring upon the corresponding department head
direct control, direction, and supervision over all local
governments and that

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144 PHILIPPINE REPORTS ANNOTATED

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Mondano vs. Silvosa, etc., et al.

for that reason he may order the investigation of an

official of a local government for malfeasance in office,
such interpretation would be contrary to the provisions of
paragraph 1, section 10, article VII, of the Constitution.

2. ID.; ID.; CONTROL AND SUPERVISION,

DISTINGUISHED.—In administrative law supervision
means overseeing or the power or authority of an officer
to see that subordinate officers perform their duties. If
the latter fail or neglect to fulfill them the former may
take such action or step as prescribed by law to make
them perform these duties. Control, on the other hand,
means the power of an officer to alter or modify or nullify
or set aside what a subordinate officer had done in the
performance of his duties and to substitute the judgment
of the former for that of the latter.

3. ID.; ID.; SCOPE OF SUPERVISION OF PROVINCIAL

GOVERNOR OVER MUNICIPAL OFFICIALS;
INSTANCE WHERE INVESTIGATION OF
PROVINCIAL BOARD is ILLEGAL.—The provincial
supervision over municipal officials is lodged in the
provincial governor who is authorized to "receive and
investigate complaints made under oath against
municipal officers for neglect of duty, oppression,
corruption or other form of maladministration of office,
and conviction by final judgment of any crime involving
moral turpitude." (Section 2188, Revised Administrative
Code). If the charges are serious he shall refer the matter
to the provincial board and "may in such case suspend the
officer (not being the municipal treasurer) pending action
by the board, if in his opinion the charge be one affecting
the official integrity of the officer in question." (Ibid.) But
where, as in the present case, the municipal officer was
charged with rape and concubinage which have nothing to
do with the perf ormance of his duties as mayor of the
municipality nor do they constitute or involve neglect of
duty, oppression, corruption or any other form of
maladministration of office, as provided for in section
2188 of the Revised Administrative Code, the

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investigation of such charges by the provincial board is

unauthorized and illegal. Hence, his suspension as mayor
of the municipality is unlawful and without authority of
law.

4. ID.; ID.; ID.; REQUISITE BEFORE CHARGES OF RAPE

AND CONCUBINAGE MAY BE FlLED AND TRIED BY
PROVINCIAL BOARD.—It is true that the charges of
rape and concubinage may involve moral turpitude of
which a municipal official may be proceeded against in
accordance with the provisions of section 2188 of the
Revised Administrative Code but before the provincial
governor and board may act and proceed against the
municipal official, a

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VOL. 97, MAY 30, 1955 145

Mondano vs. Silvosa, etc., et al.

conviction by final judgment must precede the filing by

the provincial governor of the charges and trial by the
provincial board. Even the provincial fiscal cannot file an
information for rape without a sworn complaint of the
offended party and the crime of concubinage cannot be
prosecuted but upon a sworn complaint of the offended
spouse (Article 344 of the Revised Penal Code).

ORIGINAL action in the Supreme Court. Prohibition with

Preliminary Injunction.
The facts are stated in the opinion of the Court.
D. Avila and C. H. Lozada for petitioner.
Olimpio R. Epis in his own behalf and for his co-
respondents.

PADILLA, J.:

The petitioner is the duly elected and qualified mayor of

the municipality of Mainit, province of Surigao. On 27
February 1954 Consolación Vda. de Mosende filed a sworn
complaint with the Presidential Complaints and Action
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Committee accusing him of (1) rape committed on her

daughter Caridad Mosende; and (2) concubinage for
cohabiting with her daughter in a place other than the
conjugal dwelling. On 6 March the Assistant Executive
Secretary indorsed the complaint to the respondent
provincial governor for immediate investigation,
appropriate action and report. On 10 April the petitioner
appeared before the provincial governor in obedience to his
summons and was served with a copy of the complaint
filed by the provincial governor with the provincial board.
On the same day, the provincial governor issued
Administrative Order No. 8 suspending the petitioner from
office. Thereafter, the Provincial Board proceeded to hear
the charges preferred against the petitioner over his
objection.
The petitioner prays for a writ of prohibition with
preliminary injunction to enjoin the respondents from
further proceeding with the hearing of the administrative
case against him and for a declaration that the order of
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146 PHILIPPINE REPORTS ANNOTATED

Mondano vs. Silvosa, etc., et al.

suspension issued by the respondent provincial governor is

illegal and without legal effect.
On 4 May 1954 the writ of preliminary injunction
prayed for was issued after the filing and approval of a
bond for P500.
The answer of the respondents admits the facts alleged
in the petition except those that are inferences and
conclusions of law and invokes the provisions of section 79
(c) of the Revised Administrative Code which clothes the
department head with "direct control, direction, and
supervision over all bureaus and offices under his
jurisdiction * * *" and to that end "may order the
investigation of any act or conduct of any person in the
service of any bureau or office under his Department and
in connection therewith may appoint a committee or
designate an official or person who shall conduct such

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investigations; * * *" and the rule in the case of Villena vs,

Secretary of Interior, 67 Phil. 451, which upheld "the
power of the Secretary of Interior to conduct at its own
initiative investigation of charges against local elective
municipal officials and to suspend them preventively," on
the board proposition "that under the presidential type of
government which we have adopted and considering the
departmental organization established and continued in
force by paragraph 1, section 11, Article VII, of our
Constitution, all executive and administrative
organizations are adjuncts of the Executive Departments,
the heads of the various executive departments are
assistants and agents of the Chief Executive."
The executive departments of the Government of the
Philippines created and organized before the approval of
the Constitution continued to exist as "authorized
1
by law
until the Congress shall provide otherwise." Section 10,
paragraph 1, Article VII, of the Constitution provides: "The
President shall have control of all the executive

_________________

1 Par. 1, sec. 11, Art. VII.

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VOL. 97, MAY 30, 1955 147

Mondano vs. Silvosa, etc., et al.

reversed by the Court in banc, questions the competence of

departments, bureaus, or offices, exercise general
supervision over all local governments as may be provided
by law, and take care that the laws be faithfully executed."
Under this constitutional provision the President has been
invested with the power of control of all the executive
departments, bureaus, or offices, but not of all local
governments over which he has been granted only the
power of general supervision as may be provided by law.
The Department head as agent of the President has direct
control and supervision over all bureaus and offices under
his jurisdiction as provided for in section 79 (c) of the
Revised Administrative Code, but he does not have the
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same control of local governments as that exercised by him

over bureaus and offices under his jurisdiction. Likewise,
his authority to order the investigation of any act or
conduct of any person in the service of any bureau or office
under his department is confined to bureaus or offices
under his jurisdiction and does not extend to local
governments over which, as already stated, the President
exercises only general supervision as may be provided by
law. If the provisions of section 79 (c) of the Revised
Administrative Code are to be construed as conf erring
upon the corresponding department head direct control,
direction, and supervision over all local governments and
that for that reason he may order the investigation of an
official of a local government for malfeasance in office,
such interpretation would be contrary to the provisions of
paragraph 1, section 10, Article VII, of the Constitution. If
"general supervision over all local governments" is to be
construed as the same power granted to the Department
Head in section 79 (c) of the Revised Administrative Code,
then there would no longer be a distinction or difference
between the power of control and that 'of supervision. In
administrative law supervision means overseeing or the
power or authority of an officer to see that subordinate
officers perf orm their duties. If the latter f ail or neglect to
f ulfill them the former may take such action or step as
pres-
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148 PHILIPPINE REPORTS ANNOTATED

Mondano vs. Silvosa, etc., et al.

cribed by law to make them perf orm their duties. Control,

on the other hand, means the power of an officer to alter or
modify or nullify or set aside what a subordinate officer
had done in the performance of his duties and to substitute
the judgment of the former for that of the latter. Such is
the import of the provisions of section 79 (c) of the Revised
Administrative Code and 37 of Act No. 4007. The Congress
has expressly and specifically lodged the provincial
supervision over municipal officials in the provincial

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governor who is authorized to "receive and investigate

complaints made under oath against municipal officers for
neglect of duty, oppression, corruption or other form of
maladministration of office, and conviction by 2
final
judgment of any crime involving moral turpitude." And if
the charges are serious, "he shall submit written charges
touching the matter to the provincial board, furnishing a
copy of such charges to the accused either personally or by
registered mail, and he may in such case suspend the
officer (not being the municipal treasurer) pending action
by the board, if in his opinion the charge be one 3
affecting
the official integrity of the officer in question." Section 86
of the Revised Administrative Code adds nothing to the
power of supervision to be exercised by the Department
Head over the administration of * * * municipalities * * *.
If it be construed that it does and such additional power is
the same authority as that vested in the Department Head
by section 79 (c) of the Revised Administrative Code, then
such additional power must be deemed to have been
abrogated by section 10(1), Article VII, of the Constitution.
In Lacson vs. Roque, 49 Off. Gaz. 93, this Court held
that the power of the President to remove officials from
office as provided for in section 64(6) of the Revised
Administrative Code must be done "conformably to law;"
and only for disloyalty to the Republic of the Philippines

_________________

2 Section 2188, Revised Administrative Code.

3 Ibid.

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VOL. 97, MAY 30, 1955 149

Mondano vs. Silvosa, etc., et al.

he "may at any time remove a person from any position of

trust or authority under the Government of the (Philippine
Islands) Philippines.'" Again, this power of removal must
be exercised conformably to law.

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In the indorsement to the provincial governor the

Assistant Executive Secretary requested immediate
investigation, appropriate action and report on the
complaint indorsed to him, and called his attention to
section 2193 of the Revised Administrative Code which
provides for the institution of judicial proceedings by the
provincial fiscal upon direction of the provincial governor.
If the indorsement of the Assistant Executive Secretary be
taken as a designation of the provincial governor to
investigate the petitioner, then he would only be acting as
agent of the Executive, but the investigation to be
conducted by him would not be that which is provided for
in sections 2188, 2189 and 2190 of the Revised
Administrative Code. The charges preferred against the
respondent are not malfeasances or any of those
enumerated or specified in section 2188 of the Revised
Administrative Code, because rape and concubinage have
nothing to do with the performance of his duties as mayor
nor do they constitute or involve "neglect of duty,
oppression, corruption or any other form of
maladministration of office." True, they may involve moral
turpitude, but before the provincial governor and board
may act and proceed in accordance with the provisions of
the Revised Administrative Code referred to, a conviction
by final judgment must precede the filing by the provincial
governor of charges and trial by the provincial board. Even
the provincial fiscal cannot file an information for rape
without a sworn complaint of the offended party who is 28
years of age and the crime of concubinage cannot be
prosecuted
4
but upon a sworn complaint of the offended
spouse. The charges preferred against the petitioner,
municipal mayor of Mainit, province of Surigao, not being
those or any of those specified in section 2188 of

____________________

4 Article 344. Revised Penal Code.

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Tacad, et al., vs. Vda. de Cebrero
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the Revised Administrative Code, the investigation of such

charges by the provincial board is unauthorized and
illegal. The suspension of the petitioner as mayor of the
municipality of Mainit is, consequently, unlawful and
without authority of law.
The writ of prohibition prayed for is granted, without
pronouncement as to costs.

Pablo, Acting C.J, Bengzon, Montemayor, Reyes, A.,

Bautista Angelo, Labrador, Concepcion, and Reyes, J. B.
L., JJ., concur.

Writ of prohibition granted.

_______________

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